Have Faith
by AspectOfCourage
Summary: A story about the life of Joel and Ellie after they reach the settlement, at the end of the game. Story contains a supernatural twist, because my imagination is quite weird sometimes. First fanfic, ANY reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

**Not sure if warning people for spoilers on is necessary, but I'm doing it anyway.**

**Don't get me wrong, I loved this game. I've just never experienced such a reaction to a video game as I have with this one. For two days I couldn't sleep and had no appetite after finishing it. Apparently it gave me mental problems or something, because all I could keep thinking about after waking up in the middle of the night (multiple times) was Ellie's face during the ending after Joel lies to her (out of protection I'm assuming), and just the overall feeling I got from this game was something I've never experienced before from any other. It gave me a heavy feeling in my chest for a few days too, I think I actually fell into a depression after playing it. That's why I decided to do something I've never done before, which is to write a fanfic. However, the story will have a very odd, unexpected twist in it, one which will really show how weird my imagination is. =) Anyway, hope you guys enjoy.**

**Since I'm a newb at this, I don't know if it's required. However;**

**I don't own any of the characters created by NaughtyDog.**

**With that, here goes nothing. =D**

It's been two weeks since Joel and Ellie made it to his brother's safe haven, and they just couldn't get used to this new life. The concept of living in a private, secluded house together with running water, electricity, and food, seemed too unreal for them to handle. After constantly being on the run, looking out for infected, dealing with cannibals and other twisted human beings, and just trying to survive in general, they honestly felt safe. At least, safer than they've felt in a long time.

It was a beautiful Spring dusk. The lush green color of the trees in the surrounding forests was coming back from its winter slumber. The whole area held this outdoorsy feel to it, much to Ellie's new found pleasure. However, she was feeling pretty bored out of her mind, since Joel was currently on guard duty at the front gate and there wasn't much more to get done today.

"_Maybe I'll go for a walk on that trail in the woods, just to pass some time until Joel gets home." _she thought to herself. With that, she put down her comic book and left the house, making sure to lock the door before leaving.

When she reached the trail near the back of the settlement, she felt a sense of freedom and safety. As she started moving through the forest, her mind wandered onto these last two weeks and the kind of life she and Joel were adjusting themselves to. She never would of thought she would experience something so carefree and safe, and she often wondered if this was the way Joel lived before the infection.

As if on cue, the photo of Joel and Sarah entered her mind. Maria had shown it to her on their first time around the settlement, but Ellie had stolen it when she wasn't looking. She wanted to give it to Joel, she figured it belongs with him instead of hidden in a night table. She ended up giving it to him on their way to the fireflies, while passing through an abandoned safe camp.

She could remember, in vivid detail, the look on his face after she handed it over. An intense mixture of emotions clouded his face, specifically his eyes. _"Well, no matter how hard you try, I guess you can't escape your past. Thank you, Ellie." _She recalled his voice, the way it threatened to fail and spill tears instead of words. But more importantly, she recalled the look on his face and how it contrasted to the face on the photo. Joel and his daughter both looked so happy, so at peace. After seeing the raw emotion in his eyes, Ellie wanted to soothe him, to tell him that his daughter was in a better place.

To tell him that she was in _Heaven _now.

But, she couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to say those words, because she didn't believe them herself. The concept of Heaven was so foreign to her, it almost infuriated her to even think about it. If Heaven was real, why was there so much destruction here? If God really exists, then why is he watching us die? Why isn't he helping us? Why was he watching the human race kill, rape, and tear itself apart until there was nothing left?

_Why did Riley have to die? And what about Sam and Tess? Were they in Heaven too, or is it just some bullshit that somebody made up to keep themselves warm in the cold, freezing storm of reality?_

Ellie snapped out of her thoughts and realized she had walked quite a ways into the woods without even knowing it.

"Damn, it's dark out already and I'm all the way out here in the woods...good thing Joel is on guard duty tonight or he would've killed me!" she smirked to herself, thinking of Joel's pissed off grumpy old face. She loved teasing him sometimes, as he was such a gullible target. She secretly liked his over-protectiveness of her. It gave her a sense of safety in this hell on earth, even if it was irritating sometimes.

Ellie decided she had enough and it was getting hard to see anyway, so she turned around and headed back towards their house.

* * *

><p>"Joel, ain't no point in stayin' on duty tonight. We got enough. I reckon you should go ahead and get home, I know bein' away from her puts an unsettlin' feeling in the pit of your stomach." Tommy said, taking note of his brother's demeanor.<p>

"You sure about this Tommy? You know how I feel about freeloadin'. You gave us a home, the least I can do is contribute my part in all this." Joel responded, slightly laced with guilt that only his brother could hear.

"You know me, brother. If I need ya, I won't hesitate to ask. Thing is, we just don't need the extra manpower tonight. Shit's actually givin' me the creeps seein' as how quiet and uneventful it's been around here lately. We haven't had any run ins since before you two even showed up." Tommy assured him.

"Who showed up before us?" he asks.

"Just some travelers. They must of heard rumors about this place and took their chances. They didn't look too smart if ya ask me, walkin' around without anythin' for self defense but a couple of bats with nails stuck in em".

"Blunt objects, huh? I sure had my dosage of fun with those..." Joel said as he reflected on previous events.

"I bet you did you fuckin' psycho." Tommy said jokingly.

"Tommy, I don't think I ever thanked you properly for... you know... everything. What you and Maria did for us really means a lot. You've given Ellie a home, and that's all I really ever wanted for her, to have a somewhat normal life. She doesn't deserve to live the way we had to live for the past year."

Tommy smiled at this, and understood. He was there when Joel lost his daughter... and he knew that this little girl was slowly breathing life back into his , he often wondered about what happened with the fireflies. Wasn't that their mission? Weren't they supposed to find out how Ellie was immune, and use it to develop a cure? Tommy put the thoughts out of his head, making a judgment call. This wasn't the time or place.

"Joel, you're my brother. You, me, Maria, Ellie... everybody here is family. We want this place to be a beacon of hope for humanity. Like I said earlier, there's always gonna be a place for you here. Now get outta here, you know how I am with this mushy bullshit." he said, saying good night to his brother.

Joel waved him off and headed back to the house, chuckling at his brother's attempt at being _mushy._

**Well, that's the first chapter. One of the things I noticed about The Last Of Us, was that it was too realistic. Yeah, I know it sounds weird saying that about the apocalypse and walking dead zombies wanting to eat your brains out, but the infected weren't zombies. These were just people who served as hosts to the Cordyceps virus, a nasty fungal growth that I guess kills the host from the inside and then grows mushrooms out of its stomach (or other parts of the insides). As seen from the pictures on google, it only affected insects, but it's easy to believe something like this could happen. The virus mutated and got stronger... and before you know it, humanity is turning into a bunch of mushrooms.**

**In fact, the realism here is probably one of the many reasons why this game was so deep. This could actually happen, and this game shows exactly what would go down if it did.**

**Because it's so real, I wanted to add something _otherworldly _to this story, maybe something that science can't explain. That's all I'll say about it for now. =D**

**Let me know what you think, ANY type of reviews are welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

Joel's feet hit the ground briskly on the way back to the house. He was eager to get back home and just try to relax for the night. He was really starting to feel his age, and the current events of these previous months were in no way helping him.

One thing that kept him awake at night was his lie to Ellie two weeks ago.

Now, Joel was a survivor, but for some reason he just couldn't put this out of his head. He'd killed more people than he can count, infected and human alike. So why couldn't he just get this shit out of his head and move on? It wasn't like him to dwell on the past.

_'I've never lied to her before.' _he thought. _'But I had to do this. I just wanted her to live. Why the fuck should she have to give up her life for a cure? She's got her whole life ahead of her, she's too young to be making a decision like that. And besides...' _he assured himself, _'who would she be saving at this point? Let's face it, humanity has gone to shit. Pillagers, rapists, selfish people like myself. The DAVIDS of the world. It ain't worth your life, Ellie. Your life is so much more than just a cure...'_

These thoughts would haunt him every night and every day. He would think about his lie to her, the fake mask he put on when he swore to her. Her tear-threatening eyes staring straight into his soul.

Her one word response.

Joel knew that she saw right through his words. He could tell right away, just from looking in her eyes. He often wondered to himself when she would confront him about it. He had no defense at this point. Ellie's bullshit detector had always been through the roof and he just couldn't get around it. So if she knew, why did she go along with it? Why did she say okay?

_'I can't do this anymore.' _he thought to himself as he climbs the steps of the porch. _'I have to tell her the truth.' _

He went to open the door, but it was locked. _'That's odd' _he thought to himself. _'Coulda' sworn I left the door unlocked since Ellie was home. Maybe she locked it on purpose?' _

He pulled out his house keys and unlocked the door, and stepped inside quietly. Sometimes Ellie would sleep downstairs on the couch so he didn't want to wake her up. But, as he walked in he noticed an empty couch.

_'Probably sleeping upstairs. Better check and make sure she didn't leave her reading lamp on again.' _he chuckled to himself.

Joel made his way up the stairs to her room, and took a peak inside. But again, the bed was empty. Ellie wasn't there, and the room was pitch black.

"Ellie?" he called out.

No response.

"Ellie?!" he tried again, this time in the hallway. But still, there was no response. The house was eerily quiet.

An unsettling feeling made its way into his chest and his mind started to race. What if somebody tried to kidnap her? Is she hurt? Maybe she decided to leave because of the lie. Where was she going? Would she really just up and leave without saying anything?

Joel moved through every room in the house, swiftly turning on every light he could find. The damn house looked like it was having a Halloween party in the middle of the night by the time he had finished. He looked in Ellie's room and noticed that her backpack was missing.

He couldn't find her. He HAD to look for her, to at least know she was okay. He decided to go back to Tommy and have him ask around on his walkie talkie if anybody has seen her. But as soon as he was about to leave, he heard the front door open. He quickly made his way down the stairs and into the front hallway, and what he saw felt like a weight being lifted from his shoulders.

"Joel?" Ellie called, after closing the door and locking it shut. "What's with all the damn lights? The place is lit up like the sun in here!"

She turned around to see Joel standing there, an intense mixture of emotions written all over his face.

Ellie looked at him and knew something was wrong. "Joel, are you okay? I thought you were on guard duty tonight. What happened?"

Joel took a second to make sure he had his voice back, before responding. "Tommy let me off early tonight. Turns out there's new guards joinin' the ranks over there. Just didn't need the manpower tonight. Ellie... where were you?"

Ellie was about to respond, but then she studied the look on his face and instantly felt a slight feeling of guilt.

"Oh... I.. I mean, I was bored so I decided to take a walk on the forest trail back there for awhile. I didn't mean to be out so long, I was just thinking about a lot of stuff and I must of lost track of time. I didn't know you would be back so soon." she said.

Joel felt relieved at this, but still a little shaken up from his previous thoughts, prompting Ellie to ask him again. "Joel, what's wrong? You're kinda freekin' me out."

"I'm fine, Ellie. Don't worry about it, it's nothing. Was just testin' out the lights in the rest of the rooms... Tommy said he never checked em' so he just reminded me tonight to make sure they were all workin' is all." _'Smooth one, dumb ass.' _he scolded himself.

Ellie wasn't really buying it, but she didn't push the issue.

"You said you went for a walk in the woods, but how did you get passed the back gate without any of the guards seein' you?" Joel inquired.

"Seriously Joel? After all the bullshit we've been through, you're wondering how I got passed a stupid gate guard?." she said jokingly. "I just sneaked out the back while the guy was snorin' his ass off. There's only one guard stationed down there, you know. Now that I think about it, it was kinda fun." she giggled to herself. "Doesn't really make me feel safe though, if you know what I mean."

Joel sighed to himself. _'It figures. Tommy thinks hes got the man power, but really it's just a bunch of incompetent idiots sleepin' on the job.' _

"I'll have to tell him about that tomorrow. Here he is sendin' me home early, and we got clueless guards sleepin' on the job."

Ellie nodded in agreement, understanding the importance of a good night watch team. When you sleep at night, you're basically putting your life in their hands until you wake up so the least they can do is _stay awake _and do their job.

"Well, it's pretty late, and I'm pretty tired from this morning. Those horses take a lot more work to take care of than I thought." she said. Ellie immediately jumped on that job as soon as they arrived from Salt Lake City, but she didn't really understand the amount of work involved in maintaining horses until actually doing it.

"Yeah, I reckon' I'm gonna crash for the night soon too. Wanna watch a movie in the meantime?" he asked.

Ellie's face lit up at this. "That sounds great! What movie? And don't even think about putting on any of that old timer cowboy crap... it's so cheesy." she teased.

Joel shrugged. "Yeah, but deep down you know you love it." he teased.

"Pssh, yeah you wish old man" Ellie mocked, with a smirk on her face.

The two made their way over to the small family room couch and watched a movie. It didn't take Ellie long to drift into a peaceful sleep, her head slowly but surely falling into place on Joel's shoulder. Joel put his arm around her protectively and quietly reached for the remote, shutting the TV off. Joel thought about what happened before, remembering the terrible feeling he experienced when he thought he lost her for good. As he closed his eyes, he could feel Ellie shifting in her sleep, snuggling up closer to his side. A smile formed on his face as he let sleep overtake his thoughts. _'I'll never let anything happen to you, baby girl.'_


	3. Chapter 3

**Beyond the Skies**

Two winged figures stand next to each other, seemingly staring down at the destruction of humanity. A yellowish gold aura surrounding one, while a pure white aura surrounded the other. One had a look of indifference on its face, while the other had a look of sadness.

"They are dieing, brother." the gold aura breaks the silence.

The white aura turns towards the gold aura, as if looking at him skeptically, but does not respond.

A few moments pass by, and the pure white aura responds.

"You fail to see the bigger picture, Michael."

Michael's facial features slant inwards at this, a discharge of anger surrounding his entity.

"This IS the bigger picture, Gabriel. Or have you forgotten what is truly important?" Michael snaps at the white aura, anger and fury emanating outwards from his very being.

However, Gabriel remains indifferent, before responding. "You are becoming emotionally attached to a tiny, insignificant spec on the canvas of eternity. You know the law prevents us from interfering with... "earthly" affairs. You are only hurting yourself in this." he spoke with a calm, rational voice, trying to reach out to his brother.

"If anybody could understand me, I would of thought my own brother could. How can we just stand here, hiding behind our precious "laws", while an entire race is about to wipe itself clean from the face of their planet?!" Michael responded with a fiery fierceness in his echoing voice.

Gabriel chuckled at this, looking Michael dead in the eye.

"You're a fool, brother."

Michael looked at him incredulously, as Gabriel continued. "You really think you can help a species from extinction? Let me explain something to you." he said while taking a step forward.

"There is NOTHING you can do to change fate. With life, comes death. You cannot change this. What do you think you can do, Michael? The planet is changing, just like it did after it was engulfed in ice, and when the grandest species of them all roamed the earth. Life has been recycling itself for eons, and now it's humanity's turn to die and become part of eternity. This fungal growth... the cause of said "doom", is simply a mutated virus succeeding in evolution." Gabriel smirked to himself, showing a hint of pleasure at this.

"Besides," he continued, "this just makes our job easier. It'll be that many less demons to obliterate when the time comes."

Michael looked him with a fierce glare now, speaking in a voice trembling with rage. "Oh, how you've fallen Gabriel. Those people down there are angels as well. Did you forget this?"

Gabriel scoffed, cutting eye contact from his brother. "It's irrelevant. The eternal conflict will not end until the demons of this eternity are put down. There is nothing in all the universes as arrogant, selfish, and brutally capable as a human being. How do you think they've made it this far in the chain of evolution?" he continued. "The law, by the lord itself, strictly states to not interfere with the affairs of mankind. I'm not going to repeat this to you again."

Michael turned to respond, but Gabriel wasn't finished.

"Just think of it this way," he said, cutting him off. "That little girl you've been wasting your time watching is immune to this virus. She wants to kill herself to save her pitiful race, right? Well, we'll be doing the same thing, sacrificing our own for the greater good. That should make you happy, since you are so attached to these insignificant specs we call human beings. The lord knows what's best here, by letting them all perish."

With this, Gabriel dissipated, leaving Michael alone to his thoughts.

"This is wrong." he said to himself.

He once again looked downwards onto humanity. Witnessing the unholy rape, torment, hatred, destruction. It was a mess, he thought to himself. But, he could also feel something else burning inside him, radiating its way up to him as if it was shooting straight up, like a beam from humanity itself. And that's when he realized-

_'It's love.' _he said in his mind, repeatedly._ 'Gabriel, even if they are demons, I simply cannot sacrifice the angels of this world for the greater good. I will not go along with this. There is another way, and that way is love!'_

A holy aura of fire and might suddenly surrounded Michael, engulfing him in righteous, blinding light that could be seen forever.

"You've asked me what I could _do._" Michael said to nobody in particular.

He then fiercely grabbed his wings, reaching over his shoulders, and in one fell swoop, tore them clean off.

"I will show you." were his last words in pain, before he felt himself falling into unconsciousness, dark forces pulling him downwards at blazing speeds, towards Earth.

_The last thing he could feel was this sense of falling, as if he was lowering himself to appease scum. The flames engulfed him, and he blacked out._

* * *

><p>Ellie opened her eyes to a ceiling fan above her and a window to her left. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, waking up to a yummy scent of bacon which instantly made her mouth water. She then remembered how she fell asleep the previous night, and a slight blush formed on her face. <em>'I guess I was really out of it, for Joel to carry me upstairs without waking me up.'<em>

She got out of bed and put on some fresh clothes, before making her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. When she reached the kitchen, what she saw put a smile on her face. It was Joel cooking breakfast for them.

"Wow, that smells great." she said, looking at Joel cook eggs and bacon in front of the stove.

Joel turned around with a small smile on his face "Hey kiddo, sleep well?"

"Yeah, one of the best nights I've ever had actually." she continuted, "I must of been really out of it last night, because I don't remember going upstairs." she smirked, awaiting Joel's reaction.

"I reckon you were pretty tired last night. Never heard you snore like that before, Ellie." he chuckled.

"WHAT?! Bullshit, I never snore." she said, laughing. "You're such a fucking liar."

"Ha, seriously Ellie, you were really out cold last night." Joel's heart then sank and his facial expression changed, remembering the last time he was holding an unconscious Ellie in his arms.

Ellie picked up the change in his demeanor. "Hey, you okay?" she asked with a soft voice, looking him in the eyes.

He shoved the thoughts out of his head and tried to be positive for Ellie. "Yeah, just fine. Come on, let's eat up. Later we'll go visit Tommy and Maria to discuss how we're gonna keep ourselves warm around here next winter." he said, eyeing the wood burning stove in the family room.

Ellie's thoughts immediately wandered to recent winter events, causing her to shudder. She then looked at Joel like he was crazy.

"Next winter? Why worry about something like that now? Spring just started, ya know." she said while eating her eggs and bacon.

"True" he said. "But I haven't really discussed with Tommy how this place survive's its winters. You know how cold it can get in these parts, and aside from the gas burners on the stove, I think that's just about all the heat we can manage to generate here. Unfortunately that won't be enough."

Ellie frowned, not wanting to go through another freezing winter again.

Joel noticed this and continued talking. "Hey, you see that big thing over there with the pipe coming out of the top of it going into the ceiling?" he asked, pointing to the wood burning stove.

"Yeah, I noticed that when we got here, but what is it?" she responded.

"That's called a wood burning stove. It's basically self explanatory as to what it's used for. All you gotta do is pack that baby full of nice hard seasoned logs, and let it burn low and slow. The flames inside cause the metal body to heat up drastically, creating a really cost effective heat source." he continued to explain "The pipe just runs out of the ceiling and that's why there's a chimney outside, so the smoke can escape."

Ellie nodded her head in understanding.

"If we can get enough seasoned wood for that thing, we won't be worryin about no cold winters anymore. I'd say, with the size of that stove compared with the size of this house, it may even get _too _hot in here, depending on how high we keep the flames. That thing'll be givin' off more heat than any campfire you've ever started."

"Sounds great, but where are we going to get wood? And what do you mean by _seasoned_?" she inquired.

"Right. So, in other words, seasoned means dried out, ready to burn wood. So let's say you cut a tree down into logs right now. If you were to try and burn it, it would just sizzle out and make more smoke than heat. That's because the wood is still alive and moisture is still stuck inside from it's life. To season trees, you really should chop em' up and let them dry out at least one to two seasons before you actually burn them. That's how you get the best burn out of em' and the most heat." Joel explained.

"Two seasons?! That means we gotta start now." she says.

"Right, that's why I gotta ask Tommy tomorrow about the areas surroundin' this place. We may be able to collect some tree trunks but we'll need tools for that. Also, I'm not so keen on the idea of goin' back out there blindly into infection land. I'm not interested in putting your life at risk just for some stupid trees." he said matter of factually. "Startin' to wish this place had a furnace."

Ellie smirked at him, shaking her head. "You know I can take care of myself, right Joel? I can handle a few mushroom heads if the situation calls for it. You taught me how to survive out there, I ain't scared of no clickers anymore."

Joel's heart warmed up when she said those words.

"Besides," she continued, "You'll be right there with me." and gave him a playful nudge in the side.

"Damn right I will, girl." Joel said, smiling as they finished their breakfast.

* * *

><p><strong>Lol yeah, you guys are probably like WTF now, but hey, I told you my imagination was weird. :D<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Well since you guys are being so nice and reviewing I'll continue writing. :D**

* * *

><p>That afternoon was stormy and gloomy. The rain was coming down like meteor showers, soaking anything standing in it for more than thirty seconds. Today was Tommy's turn to check inventory and oversee his crew regarding the village turbines. Him and Maria would take turns to keep the workload balanced, in an attempt to keep stress levels low and maintain clear thinking. After all, they were the young leaders of this little slice of paradise. That took a certain work ethic and a high level of responsibility, and if they had to work extra hard to keep things running smoothly around here, than so be it. It was all worth it, and they knew it.<p>

"I'm gonna go and check out these clowns you got mannin' the gates out there, Tommy." Joel said.

Tommy let out a heavy sigh, as if he was expecting this, but spoke in a jokingly matter. "What's wrong brother? They ain't meetin' your standards out there?" he chuckled to himself.

"If a fifteen year old girl can get past them whenever the fuck she wants, then yes, I'd say we got a problem here." he said in a stern voice.

"Fifteen year old girl? You don't mean... Ellie?!" Tommy asked.

Ellie turned her head to look at him sheepishly, trying to hold in her laughter.

"Umm... maybe? I guess?" she said, continuing, "And hey! I'm no ordinary fifteen year old girl, you old geezer!"

Maria decided now was a good time to voice her opinion. "Ellie, I don't think ANYBODY would be able to stop you from doing something if you really wanted to do it, let alone this pack of mangy mutts we got guarding the gates around here." she said in a complimentary tone.

"At least SOMEBODY around here understands." Ellie said with a playful sarcasm.

"I knew my guys weren't top dog, but come on. Didn't they at least say something to you when you went by? Some kind of warning at least?" Tommy was curious now. This could really turn into a serious security problem.

"Well, ya see... the thing is..." she chose her next words carefully, as to not spook Tommy, "They couldn't really _say _anything to me. You know, cus' they were kinda... sleeping." As soon as Ellie said this, she and Maria braced for the inevitable.

"WHAT?!" screamed Tommy, unable to believe what he just heard. "Are you _FUCKING_ kidding me? SLEEPING? What the FUCK is that?"

At this point Maria was ready to piss her pants in laughter. The tears were streaming down her face like Niagara Falls, and Ellie was just standing there, finding amusement in Maria's reaction. She's never really seen her hysterical like this, and it was funny, admitting to herself.

"I told you!-" Maria forced out.

"NOPE", Tommy cut her off, he would have none of this.

"I did!" she continued. "I told you turkey was no good to be feeding them for dinner! Haven't you ever heard of what turkey does in the brain? It does something to the chemical balance in your head and it makes you sleepy!" she said, still laughing.

"It was either turkey, or that fucking blueberry shit again. And I'm tired of eating fucking _WEEDS _every night, Maria. I need PROTEIN." he defended himself. "We haven't been able to hunt for game in awhile thanks to this fucking bullshit falling from the sky by the _gallon._" he said, pointing upwards with middle finger.

Maria calmed down, but not without one last remark. "You men and your meat" she said smiling, getting a giggle out of Ellie.

Joel, however, wasn't finding the humor in this situation at all. _'Fuck this' _he thought._  
><em>

"Tommy, I'll train your men for you, teach these young little bitches how to guard a wall without falling asleep like sissies. Then we can all sleep better tonight. Can't guard the whole fucking place on my own, you know." he said, not giving much room for Tommy to deny him.

Tommy contemplated this for a second. He knew what his older brother was capable of, and he thought, maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea. Teaching these guys how to kill the way he does would certainly help us out survival wise.

"Do me a favor, just don't kill anybody, okay? We're shorthanded around here as it is, and most of the people living here aren't fit for combat." Tommy explained.

Joel waved him off, getting ready to step out the door and get on with it, but stopped when he noticed Ellie was ready to follow him out.

"Ellie, why don't you stay here with Maria? I'm sure you girls got a lotta catchin' up to do, right?" he said.

Ellie immediately started panicking on the inside, but she doesn't let it show. She admits, she's kinda antisocial when it comes to not having Joel nearby. Really, she just wanted to tell him to fuck off, and force herself by his side again, not giving him a choice in the matter. It just doesn't feel right not being within a five foot radius of Joel. However, she decides against it, not wanting to insult Maria's feelings or make herself look like a fool.

"Uh, yeah sure. When will you be back though?" she asks him.

"This shouldn't take too long. Just gotta whip these kids into shape, and I'll be back. Don't worry about me, go have some fun with Maria. You deserve it." he reassures her, before walking out to accomplish his task.

Before Ellie has a chance to turn her head towards Maria, Tommy is already speaking.

"I'll be at the turbines honey. The techs are havin' me come over and take a look at something in one of the systems... says it could pose a threat to power supply. And in a storm like this, I ain't takin' any chances." Tommy says to his wife, leaving Ellie and Maria to themselves in the inventory room.

* * *

><p>Maria was the first to break the silence.<p>

"So, Ellie, how you doin'?"

"Okay I guess. Well, I feel like I'm kinda still in survival mode, if ya know what I mean. It's nothing against you or Tommy, you guys are doing a great job and a wonderful service here. I'm just so used to sleeping on the ground with Joel, looking over my shoulder every five minutes for hunters or mushroom faces, or just trying to survive. _'With Joel' she thought, mid sentence. _I'm still getting used to this lifestyle." Ellie answered.

Maria immediately understood, knowing the girl's past and what her and Joel went through these past few months... speaking of the past, what the hell happened with the Fireflies?

"Well, you know you guys are welcome to stay here as long as you want. Ain't no reason to think you gotta keep living that way anymore." she comforted her.

Ellie looked at her with soft eyes and nodded appreciatively. It was a good feeling to be loved by somebody else, she thought to herself. She thought of Riley and Joel.

"You know, you guys never really mentioned what happened with your mission with the Fireflies. Tommy and I thought they needed you to get some kind of cure for this disease, since you're immune. Did they do what they needed to do?" Maria inquired.

Ellie didn't know how to respond to this, after all, she didn't even know herself. All she remembers was trying to help Joel. He was trapped in a bus under the water, but somehow the bus started moving from the force of the current, knocking her off balance and into the water. She couldn't swim.

"The truth is, I don't even remember. Joel and I were on our way there but we had to cross this nasty looking fucking river underground or something... I got knocked into the water but I can't swim. I thought that was the end of me, but then I woke up in the back of Joel's car. He told me that the Fireflies... there were dozens of others who were immune to the disease, and that the Fireflies could not find a cure from them. He said they stopped looking for a cure..." she stopped, waiting to see if Maria had anything to say.

Maria just looked at her, with a facial expression she really couldn't read. "What happened then?" Maria asked.

"Well, after that I got depressed. After all the shit we went through, all the people who died for us and we couldn't even reach our goal. After Joel told me, I just laid down in the back seat, and, well, here we are two weeks later." Ellie explained, a little too easily for Maria.

Maria could tell she was leaving something out. Perhaps dialogue between her or Joel, or something else that may have happened. She decided to press the issue.

"Ellie..." she said, "I want us to be friends. You can trust me, you know. I'm sure plenty of people have told you this already. Hell, I'm sure Joel already told you-"

Ellie cut her off. "Actually, Maria, he's never said those words to me. Ever."

Maria felt bad for saying that, but before she could apologize, Ellie continued speaking.

"But, he doesn't need to. I can feel his love for me, just by looking in his eyes. And it's so... strong. Sure, other people just see a murderer, or an over aged pervert with a younger girl. But I see love. I can _feel _it. I don't ever want to be alone, Maria..." and as she finished this sentence, her eyes started to water, tears streaming down her face. Before she knew it, she was sobbing in Maria's arms.

"That's why... when Joel almost died last winter... when that _fucking animal _David almost... he almost..." she couldn't finish the sentence, and buried her face in Maria's embrace.

Joel had told Tommy and Maria about what happened at Lakeside sometime during their first week here. At the time he wasn't sure if Ellie would appreciate this, but he trusted Tommy and Maria like family and thought that they should know about the trauma this poor little girl has gone through. And all for _him._

"Ellie... it's okay now, sweetie." Maria comforted her, squeezing her gently in a loving embrace. "You, me, Tommy, and Joel. We're a family now, do you understand? You will NEVER be alone as long as we're still breathing. We love you, sweetheart. All of us." They were now both on the ground, hugging each other in sadness, and Maria continued her comforting words.

"You are such a brave girl Ellie, do you know that? You're the strongest girl I've ever met, and I'm so happy to be part of your family." Ellie was still crying, but it was happy tears now. She looked up at Maria, with shining, watery eyes. "Thank you... Maria. I'm sorry... you're shirt is a mess now." she said with a sad laughter.

Maria smiled and said "Don't worry about it, Ellie. I'm just glad you're okay."

Maria's voice was so soothing to Ellie. She would of never imagined a voice like that coming out of Maria's mouth, with her being an in-control type of woman. She was a leader, after all.

Before Ellie could respond, the door to the inventory room was busted open so quickly it almost flew off the hinge. Both girls looked over to the doorway, to see a man with a rifle in his hand with a terrified look on his face.

"TOMMY! WHERE THE FUCK IS TOMMY?!" the man asked frantically.

Maria recognized him as Fred. He was one of the guards.

"Whoa, calm down Fred. He's with the crew at the turbines, what's going on?" Maria asked, still holding Ellie. She could see the fear in his eyes.

"We need help at the gates! It's infected... there are DOZENS of them! We need back up, now!" Fred said, frantically.

"Shit. There are some guards at the other gates and near the turbines. I'll call Tommy on the radio and-"

But before she could finish, Ellie bolted out the door like a sniper bullet.

"Ellie!" Maria yelled, but it was no use. Ellie just kept running.

There was only one thing on Ellie's mind at this point.

_'JOEL!'_

* * *

><p><strong>Joel's lie will be addressed in later chapters. I will write Ellie's reaction in a way that I truly believe she would react, and I'll attempt to keep her as in character as I can when I'm doing it. <strong>

**Next chapter is fun time. Thnx for reading guys!**


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